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Kids' Choice Poll

Kids: click here to vote for your favorite 2009 Top 10 New Species.

Top 10

• 2009
• 2008

Do you know of an interesting, newly described species?  Nominate it for a chance to be a Top 10 New Species for 2010.

Species in the News

Even-More-Gigantic Giant Orb Spider Discovered

- Wired Science

Psychedelic New Species Seen

- National Geographic

Cat-sized rat and other new species discovered

- Daily Mail

Partner Spotlight

What do Condé Nast, Scientific American, Time Magazine, Town & Country and Newsweek have in common?  The California Academy of Sciences (CAS) has been featured in each of these premier magazines.

Less than a decade after the Smithsonian was established by Congress and before California became a state, the California Academy of Sciences was founded – becoming the first scientific academy west of the nation's east coast establishment.  Since 1853, the Academy has been renamed, relocated, rebuilt and restructured to emerge as a leading-edge architectural achievement in sustainability and a premier 21st century museum destination.  The Academy's new building is now a single structure blending into the landscape of San Francisco's beautiful Golden Gate Park and is home to millions of species and hundreds of exhibits including the Steinhart Aquarium, Morrison Planetarium, Kimball Natural History Museum, and a 4-story rain forest.

As one of the IISE's partner institutions, CAS is also committed to species exploration and taxonomic science and is considered a worldclass leader in the study of biological diversity.  Research labs at CAS support over 100 scientific staff members including 20 curators in a range of fields including anthropology, botany, entomology, ichthyology, invertebrate zoology, ornithology, and mammalogy.

We encourage you to visit the Museum in person the next time you're in the Bay Area and explore it now via the web by clicking here.

The Darwin 150 Project

With support from E. O. Wilson, Sean Carroll and media partners like National Geographic, the Darwin150 Project is a campaign to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species." The project's goal is to gather one million Facebook members by November 24, 2009 to recognize this milestone in science.

Click here for information on the free lecture series featuring E. O. Wilson, Sean Carroll, Jonathan Weiner and Everett Mendelsohn.

Letters to Linnaeus

Moving Forward

As we continue our commitment to biodiversity, taxonomy and species exploration, our website will continue to evolve.  In the coming weeks and months, be sure to check our developing home page for featured news stories, blogs and other current events.  We are also in the early stages of implementing our Eleodes Project which will have new web pages just for kids that will include fun beetle collecting activities and ways for everyone to get involved in taxonomy.  In addition to our Kids Choice poll for voting on your favorite Top 10 New Species, we’ll also have some new products for you to download and/or order to help us raise funds for biodiversity efforts!  Be sure to contact us if you have any questions or would like more information.

Year of Science 2009

The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) is celebrating the 2009 Year of Science. Twelve scientific themes will focus on answering the question, “How We Know What We Know.” Click on the link below to discover more about this year-long celebration of science.